THE SENATOR FROM TEXAS DOING THE FILIBUSTER SHUFFLE-FOOT

Some time around 2 pm Eastern Standard Time, Texas Senator Ted Cruz stepped to the Senate floor lectern to filibuster the ObamaCare bill – pledging to “stand and talk until he no longer can.”

Following Sen. Rand Paul (Ky-R) showboating performance against the Obama administration’s silence on U.S. drone policy, Cruz positions himself as yet another constitutional conservative working off principal.

Sen. Cruz’s effort is said by mainstream media pundits to be little more than a media shuffle-foot – but it’s still good “corn.”

To my mind, Cruz is ahead on points. As Pres. Obama’s entire presidency has been a media fairy-tale without the benefit of principal.

Likewise, Sen. Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster was the best defense of constitutionalism since Pres. Reagan aptly defended conservative principals as President of these United States during his two-terms in the White House.

Sen. Paul clarified what conservatism is and what it is not – ably intimating it is a protection and animation of inalienable civil liberties (freedom and liberty) against government instead of the shuck and jive moralism so often characterised by those who are so-called “on the right.”

Libertarian Monks wishes Cruz much success in his efforts to continue the fight of a happy warrior – of defending and articulating constitutional conservatism, especially in the face of the fascist character of ObamaCare.

As I type this post, Senator Ted Cruz’s filibuster is winding down, and while the leftist outlets (and, sadly, some Republicans) spew forth their vitriol, I can’t help but think that moments like this and Senator Rand Paul’s “Stand with Rand” filibuster represent key turning points for the conservative movement. I’m far less interested in the Washington inside baseball of who’s mad at whom and far more interested in the effect of passionately demonstrated conservative conviction on our culture.

The Left has long understood the raw cultural power of conviction.

How many of our key institutions have been transformed through the sheer force of will expressed by a passionate minority? People with conviction dictate the terms of debate, transform the decision-making paradigm of even the largest entities, and lay the groundwork for larger cultural transformation. This work is rarely, if ever, done with majority support but instead at the urging of the most committed, most dedicated, and most vocal.

Thus, our great institutions often change without any public referendum, merely passive acquiescence. Indeed, one reason why people like Senator Cruz can be all-too-successfully labeled as “extremist” in the wider culture has been the power of leftist conviction at work in key cultural institutions.